Vehicle lubricating device



March 1o, 1931'.

| KE'rcI-IUM VEHICLE LUBRICATING DEVICE Filed sept. 9", 192s 2Sheets-Sheet 1 March l0, 1931. KETcJl-IUM 11,795,955

5 VEHICLE LUBRIGATING DEVICE Filed Sept. 9. 1929 `2 Sheets-Sheet 2 33 lnventor Le@ fl'ohwm/ uw@ Qta.

attorneys.

vPatented Mar. 10, 1931 LEE KErcHUra, oF MEiyrrHs, TENNEssEE, essrefNon'or yONE-'HALE To ou MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE rFCE vEriroLEA LUEEICATING DEVICEApplicationled September 9, 1929. Serial No. 391,395.

lThe present invention relates to improve-v ments in vehicle lubricatingdevices, and it more particularly refers to a device useful inconnection with fuel service stations for autowmobiles, in which the actof driving the vehicle upon the device will put'the lubricant underpressure and in condition to penetrate the bearings and other parts tobe lubricated. c

providing an improved lubricatingdevicein zol p which the lubrication ofvehicles is 'ac-cornplished faithfully,y and in which an appro# priatecharge of lubricant is assured to each art. l I i VVith'the foregoingand vother objects in' view, the invention will be described more fullyhereinafter and will be more particu! larly pointed out in the appendedclaims.

In the`drawings, in which like symbols refer to like or correspondingparts throughout the several views,

Figure lis a side elevation of animproved vehicle lubricating deviceconstructed according to the present invention,

Figure`2 is a top plan view of the same with parts broken away,

. Figure 3 is a central vertical section taken on an enlarged scalethrough the improved pump employed and showing the parts in oneposition, Y y Y n y Figure 4 is a similar view with the parts shown insubsequent position for expelling the lubricant, and l Figure o whichmay conveniently be constructed of a pair of spaced channel ironsadapted to re-v ceive the wheels of the automobile, car, locomotive, orother vehicle. The platform 11 is a transverse sectiontaken on the line5 5 1n Figure 3, and looking in theV is fulcrumed, -as indicatedat l2,to inverted V-shaped or other supporting frames 13.

At the remote ends of the channel irons 1l areinounted depending stops11i adapted to engagefthe ground when this end ofthe platform isdepressed by the weight of the vehicle, as later explained. dash pot-s15 are coupled to the platform irons whereby to cushion the descent ofthis remote end of the platform. The cylinders of the dash pots arepivoted, asindicated at 16, to iittingslf secured to the groundv orfloor 10. The plunger rods 18 ofthe dash pots are pivoted, asindicatedat 19, to the channel irons l1. The dash pots, being pivoted atopposite ends at the points 16 and-19, are self-aligning.l

The plungers 20, which are coupled to the rods JOHN s., Hum),

Adjacent the stops 14C,

18 and reciprocate the-dash pots 15, are v Y traversed byrestrictedapertures or by-passes 21 which permit a. slow transfer ofthe iiuid inthe dash pots from onefside .of the 20 to the opposite sides thereof.

As arfurthe'r cushioning means, the chany "nel irons 11 may vbeprovidedwith arms 22 which extend rearwardly and downwardly, and'are providedwiththe angular end portions 23 carrying slidable heads 24, in each ofwhich ay pair ofsfrction cones 25 and 26 are somounted as to rotateuponrods 27, which are anchored in the floor and preferably extend up atthe inclinationv shown in ,Y Figure 1, This friction device will alsoact to eliminate any side play in the platform or channel irons 11. i

. One or more lubricant chambers or reservoirs are shown at 2S, theybeing mounted at appropriate points, and such chambers may bereplenished from timefto time with lubricant by lifting the removablecovers 29 thereof. The lower portions ofthe chambers 28 are coupled tolubricant conduits 30 having check valves 31 therein, which `will permitcutiiow of the lubricant from the chambers, but will resist the returnof the lubrican'f. through the pipesBO. YThe pipes 30 extend to thelower portionsof pump cylinders' 32, which are pivoted at 33 to theframes 13 orV other appropriate parts.- Slidably mounted` in the pumpcylinders 32 are hollowspump barrels 34 having pump pistons secured atpistonsI CTI Y form.

the inner ends thereof and having perforated outer ends 36 for slidablyreceiving` therethrough the plunger rods 37. These plunger rods arepivotally connected to the channel irons 11, preferably at any of anumber of selected peints 38, whereby the lcapacity of the pump may beregulated.

rThe plunger rods 37 are provided with plungers 39 fitted to reciprocatewithin the hollow barrels 34, and movable independently of the barrels.Coil springs 40 are held in the hollow barrels 34 and abut at one endagainst the plungers 39, and at the other end against the pump pistons35. The pistons may be originally made separately from the barrels 34,and subsequent to the introduction of the coil spring 40, such pistons35 may be coupled to the barrels 34 in any appropriate manner, such asby bolting, riveting, welding, and the like.

Outle conduits or hose sections 41 connect with the loi er portions ofthev cylinders 32 and contain check valves 42 which will permit of theout-flow of the lubricant from the pumps, but will avoid any backpressure through the hose lines toward said pumps. Each hose line 41 maybe provided with any appropriate type of nozzle 43 suitable Aforapplying lubricant to the shackle bolts, steer'- in' spindles and otherparts of automobiles, locomotives and other vehicles. Each nozzle 43 ispreferably provided with a-valve 44 which is normally'closed.

f In the use ofthe device, the parts will be in the position shown inFigure 1, with the platform in the inclined position ready to receive a.vehicle thereon. The driver of the vehicle desiring working service willdrive into't'he garage or service station, and up the run-way of channelirons 11. As the vehicle passes the fulcrum or center 12, the

weight thereof will cause the remote portion of the platform to descend.

The rapidV descent of this portion of the platform under the greatweight of a vehicle will be checked by the dashpots and by the frictioncone devices, which latter will also avoid any lateral play of theapparatus. The stops 14 will determine the final position of the parts,and these stops 14 may be arranged so that the remote end of theplatform will not descend too far below a horizontal position,such aswould tend to cause movement of the vehicleby gravity o the platrl`hethrow of the platform maybe determined by the length of the stops 14.

The stops 14 may be so arranged that when the platform arrives at thehorizontal plane of the fulcruni 12 that such stops will engage theground line 10 and arrest the further descent of the platform, thusholding the vehicle at a true horizontal position during the performanceof the greasing and lubricating v operations.

Now as this end of the platform 'descends` under the weight of thevehicle, the plunger rods 37 will be moved down with the platform. ln somoving, the plungers 39 carried by the rod descends within the hollowbarrel 34, as indicated in Figure 3, compressing be- Jfore it the coilspring 40. It is assumed in `Figure 3 that the pump cylinder 32 isfilled with lubricant, which lubricant cannot escape back to thereservoir or chamber 28 by rea.- son of the check valve 31, and cannotescape in vthe opposite direction by reason of the normally closedposition of the valve 44 in the nozzle 43.

The compacted lubricant body in the pump cylinder 32 will avoid movementof the barrel 34, or .its connected pump piston 35, but the coil spring4() will becompressed by the downward movement of the plunger 3Q,whereby this coil spring will be putin'a potentialV position to drivedown the piston 35 and barrel 34 whenever thevalve 44 is opened.' lnother words, when the pressure is relieved in the hose 41, thecoil`spring40 may eXpancL and drive the barrel and piston 35A downwardly inthe cylinder 32, thus eX- pelling lubricant outthrough the hose 41. andnozzle 43and rinto the bearing to which this nozzle is connected. Theoperator will, of course, only momentarily open the valve'44 to allowadesired quantity of the lubricant to be introduced to the barrel. lhenhe releases the valve the same'will automaticallyclose, in accordancewith a well-under stood -valve action, and the further Ydescent of thepiston 35 vwill be promptly checked. In. this way, the piston 35 may beallowedzto descend step by, step at each newapplication of the plunger43to the various bearings or other parts to-be lubricated, and the pumpwill ordinarily hold sufficient lubricant for greasing the entirevehicle.

After the lubrication has been performer., the vehicle is backed downthe platform 11, and as soon as it passes the-center point 12, theweight of the vehicle will act Vto restore the parts to the Epositionshown in Figure 1, elevating the remote end of the platform slowly, dueto the dash pots andthe friction cones, and lifting the plunger rod 37and the ttached plunger 39, which will engage the barrel 34 and raisethe barrel and the pump piston 35 to the upper initial position.

In so doing, thesuction created bythe lifting of the plunger 35 will actto draw in lubricant through the conduit 3() from the lubricant chamber23. The pump piston 35 is preferably constructed with leather or otherwashers or cups 45 yand-46, which are spaced apart and crimped' inopposite directions.

whereby the lower vasners 45 may expand against the walls of thecylinders 32onthe down strolies ofthe pistons'and avoid lealtage of thelubricant about such pistons; whereas on the up strokeV of the pistons35,

It will, of course, be understood that one or lmore pumps may be used inconnection with the device, two such pumps being shown in the drawings.Where a plurality of pumps are employed, the same may be connected toseparate lubricant chambers containing lubricants of varying weights.For instance, where oil was used, one chambermight con. tain light,another medium, and the third of heavy oil. A still further chambermight contain grease for the dinjerential and transmission of thevehicle.

It will be obvious that many changes in the construction, combinationand arrangement of parts could be. made, whichcould be used withoutdeparting from the spirit ofk my invention, and I do not mean to limitthe invention to such details, exceptk as particularly pointed out inthe claims.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States is 1. An improved vehiclelubricating `devicek comprising a movable plat-form adapted to receive avehicle and be moved bythe weight thereof, means for checking the rapiddescent of the platform, a source of lubricant supply, pump meansconnected to the sourceof lubricant supply and to the platform andacting to withdrawa quantity of lubricant from such supply, and placethe same under pressure, and delive-ry means extendingl from said pumpmeans and adapted to be coupled to the parts of the vehicle to belubricated.

2. An improved vehicle lubricating device comprising a tilting platformadapted to receive a vehicle and to be shifted by the weight of thevehicle, means for arresting the rapid descent of the platform, stopmeans carried by said platform, a pump coupled to said platform and incommunication with a source of lubricant supply for automaticallyplacing the lubricant under pressure upon the descomprising a movableplatform for t-he vehicle, a pump operatively connected with saidplatform and including a cylinder in communication with a source oflubricant supply, a piston mounted to reciprocate in said cyln inder,ahollow barrel connected to move with said piston, a coil'springdisposed in said barrel, a plunger movably mounted in said barrel forcompressing said spring, a plunger rod coupled to said plunger and tothe plat-- form, and normally closed delivery means for the lubricantconnected to said cylinder.

LEE KTCHUM.

'Ilo' cent of the platform, and lubricant deliv ry f means connected tosaid pumpv for application of the lubricant to the vehicle parts.

3. An improved vehicle lubricating device comprising a pivotedplatformforv the vehicle, a pump in communication with a source of lubricantsupply coupled to said platform and moved thereby for withdrawingcharges of lubricant from the source and deliveririg same to the partsof the vehicle to be lubricated, and means for regulating the deliveryof the lubricant to the vehicle.

l. An improved vehicle lubricating device comprising a shiftableplatform for the vehicle, a pump coupled for automatic action to theplatform and including a cylinder in communication with a; source oflubricant supply, a piston movably mounted in said cylinder, a coilspring associated with said piston, means initially moved by the descent

